


Ren'ai no Oto ~ 恋愛の音 ~ The Sound of Romance

by Mahboison



Category: Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai, Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Headcanon, Idols, Japanese Character(s), Japanese Culture, LGBTQ Female Character, Love, Love/Hate, Multiple Pairings, Original Character(s), Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, School Idols (Love Live!), Seduction, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Teasing, Tokyo (City), Work In Progress, Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:08:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26863423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mahboison/pseuds/Mahboison
Summary: Yuuki Kawasaki is a School Idol fan turned audio engineer from Osaka, living and studying in Tokyo. Her first co-op placement puts her in an almost surreal situation where she has the opportunity to meet her idols, and perhaps even more than that...
Relationships: Asaka Karin/Miyashita Ai, Ayase Alisa/Kousaka Yukiho, Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi, Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi/Original Character(s), Hoshizora Rin/Koizumi Hanayo, Kousaka Honoka/Minami Kotori/Sonoda Umi, Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> To help avoid any confusion with characters' ages: This story is set roughly 6 years after the presumed graduation of the third-year students in μ’s, Aqours, and Nijigasaki, placed on a near-synchronous timeline like in Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars.

# Ren'ai no Oto ~ 恋愛の音

##### A Love Live! Fanfiction

##### By Mahboison

###  _I - Prologue_

_My name is Yuuki Kawasaki. I’m originally from Osaka, where my father owns a small instrument repair shop, but I currently live and attend college in Tokyo. When I was in junior high I loved school idols, especially μ’s. I basically grew up alongside them, I went to see their final concert before the third-years graduated when I was 14. It’s an experience I’ve never forgotten, I even got to give them a card that I made myself. Of course, even though the third-years graduated, the group never really split up, it even grew by two members when Eli and Honoka’s sisters joined. They continued to practice together, and did concerts all over the country. Their wonderful music helped me to get through my high school years, which were admittedly kind of rough. Thanks to my boyish appearance and introverted mannerisms, I was frequently bullied by other students in my first year. It wasn’t until I founded my school’s first school idol fan club that I really found something to take my mind off all of it. The club was small, but my passion for school idols shone brightly just like they do on stage, and I attracted a small group of students who I happily spent my lunch and club hours with, chatting about school idols and listening to their music. By the end of high school, I no longer felt like an outcast, I felt like I belonged somewhere. I even helped a couple of my underclassmen from the club with recording songs so they could become idols themselves. It was through that I discovered my passion for audio engineering. After graduation, I worked hard to do well on my entrance exams and ended up getting into the college I currently attend. I’m in my third year of training to become an audio engineer, and this semester I’m doing a co-op placement with a local business. What I wasn’t expecting was to get placed as a junior audio engineer for an idol group, let alone the one I got placed with..._


	2. An Unexpected Encounter

###  _II - An Unexpected Encounter_

“μ’s!?” 

Yuuki blurted out in excitement, surprising the unprepared director

“Y-Yes, your client is μ’s. The previous company couldn’t fulfill the contract on short notice, so we called your company instead.”

The director did her best to regain her composure and pushed her glasses up, turned, and gestured to the massive mixing console at the front of the booth.

“This will be your workstation. I understand you’re an amateur, and I hate to ask this, but you’re going to be on your own in here today. We’re short-staffed, so I need to help the backstage prep people finish their work while the idols rehearse.”

Yuuki went wide-eyed. Her first time on the job, and she was already being asked to operate the entire sound booth on her own. Sure, she’d learned the theory of how this all worked, and had played around with mixers with at most 8 or 9 inputs, but this was a whole other ballgame. She looked to the board and tried to count. 20… 30… 40… she lost count. There were so many dials. So many sliders and switches.

The director chuckled.

“Don’t worry kiddo, the only ones you gotta worry about are over here.”

She gestured to a portion of the panel marked “Master”.

“A-Ah, right, I’m guessing you’ve already configured the optimal setup”

Yuuki approached the cushioned office chair in front of the panel.

“May I?”

“Of course”

She took a seat in front and began to examine the panel for labels she’d recognize. After about 30 seconds she turned back to the director.

“This panel looks like it’s configured for an orchestra, not pop music”

The director shrugged

“To be honest I haven’t touched it since I got here, I figured the last engineers who used it knew what they were doing and left it in a usable state. Come to think of it, I did see a classical orchestra poster in the lobby…”

Yuuki looked back at the console and her heart rate began to increase slightly. What if this made the concert sound weird? She was the one responsible for this now, but if she messed around too much it might end up sounding even worse. The most important part of a concert is the sound, closely followed by presentation. If one is off by too much the other can’t compensate for it and the show will be a bust and-

“Anyways, I’m off to help Maretsu-san backstage, work your magic college kid, I look forward to seeing what you’re capable of”

Before Yuuki could get another word in, she heard the sound of the door closing. She was now alone, in the deafening silence of the soundproofed booth. Letting out a deep sigh, Yuuki breathed deeply for a few moments to regain her composure.

“Okay Yuuki, you can do this. Just gotta make the best of this...”

She looked up the console’s model on her phone and found its instruction manual. Opening it up, she flipped to an “optimal configurations” section and began to adjust the dials accordingly for pop music. She peered momentarily out of the window of the booth, and wasn’t prepared for what she saw.

There they were, standing all together on stage in a circle, just like the pre-show all those years ago. In the middle was Honoka, gesturing excitedly and smiling while talking to the other members. To her left was Kotori, looking as cute as ever with her hair in its signature style. On the right side of Honoka was Umi, her expression serious and determined, yet calm. Rin and Hanayo were also there, inseparable as always. Hanayo was clinging affectionately to Rin’s arm and smiling timidly at her while Rin talked excitedly along with Honoka. Maki and Nico stood opposite them. Nico looked like she hadn’t aged a single day since the concert 6 years ago, still bursting with cute and youthful energy. Maki on the other hand had a more mature air about her, though her expression changed and she blushed and crossed her arms at one of Rin’s remarks. Her lips seemed to mouth the words “I don’t get it”. Even if she looked older, she was the same as always. Next to Maki were the two junior members of the group, Yukiho and Alisa, sisters of Honoka and Eli respectively. The two of them were holding hands and giggling at Rin’s previous remark, much to the chagrin of Maki. The last two that Yuuki set her eyes on were Nozomi and Eli, who were facing mostly away from the booth. Nozomi had her long purple hair in two long tails as usual, with bedazzled scrunchies to match the outfits they were wearing for the concert. Eli stood attentively listening to the other girls, turning to exchange smiles and nods with Nozomi. Yuuki stared at the two of them, mystified by their beauty. The whole group was beautiful, but Nozomi in particular had gotten Yuuki’s attention. Her costume perfectly complemented her soft curves and motherly personality. Nozomi turned her head for a moment, glancing up through the booth window, then looked back to Eli, and then quickly turned to the booth again with an inquisitive expression. By the time she turned to look again, Yuuki had ducked down below the panel, blushing and hiding her face in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she’d just made direct eye contact with Nozomi after checking her out. She hoped that Nozomi hadn’t seen her, or if she did, she hoped Nozomi didn’t think ill of her for staring.

Yuuki peeked back up over the panel and was relieved to see that members of the stage crew were now helping all the idols get their microphones on. Moments later she heard a faint, muffled voice from next to her. She looked over to see that there was a headset plugged into the mixer panel. Without hesitation she grabbed it and put it on, and carefully took hold of the volume dial for panel output. She slowly turned it up.

“Hello? Hello? Testing.”

One of the stage crew members was checking Honoka’s mic, looking straight at the booth. Yuuki realized he was looking for a response. She glanced around a bit in a daze before realizing she’d put on a headset, which meant it had a microphone attached to it. She patted her hand on the left earphone until she found a small mic arm, which she promptly flipped down, activating it.

“Y-Yes I’m here, sorry about that.”

“Ah, good, I was worried they left the wrong headphones in there, can you hear me alright? Is the balance good?”

Yuuki nodded and gave a thumbs up.  
“Yep, sounds good on my end.”

“Alright, do you mind switching it to auditorium speakers now? We need to see if it’ll sound good for the audience too.”

Obeying instructions, Yuuki flipped a switch on the panel, sending the output to the speakers in the auditorium below.

“It should be switched now”

“Ah okay, I’ll give control over to Honoka now. She’ll run through some more tests and let you know if anything sounds off.”

The stage crewman’s voice echoed through the auditorium speakers, causing him to do a double take. After blinking and shaking his head a bit, he handed the earpiece to Honoka after replacing the earbud with a clean one. 

Honoka spoke clearly into the mic.

“A-a! Test test! How’s the sound back there?”

She was addressing some unseen stage crew sitting at the back of the auditorium. After a moment, she smiled and nodded.

“Ah, good, I’m glad. How about up there? Does everything sound good mixer-san?”

“Y-Yes, everything seems fine on my end!”

Yuuki was a little embarrassed by being called mixer-san, but she figured Honoka probably just called every audio engineer that. After all, it was impossible for her to remember all their names, right?

Honoka nervously replied

“Ah, sorry, there’s no need to be nervous!”

Did Yuuki’s tone make it that obvious?  
Umi shook her head, her hands on her hips

“Honoka, it’s impolite to just give strangers nicknames like that. I know that’s what you normally call the person in that booth, but they couldn’t make it for this live. Didn’t you listen when the director said that we’d have a co-op student in the booth today?”

Honoka gasped

“A-Ah! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be impolite…!”

Yuuki smiled and stifled a giggle. Getting to see and hear an interaction like this between μ’s members live, let alone on her behalf, was surreal but also kind of fun.

“It’s alright”

Kotori chimed in

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name, miss?”

Her soft, calming voice put Yuuki at ease

“My name is Kawasaki Yuuki, I’m a third-year audio engineering student, nice to meet you. I hope we all get along.”

It was a typical polite Japanese greeting, but Yuuki did her best for it to not come out too stiff or formal. In that light, she decided to add on, albeit with a slight stammer.

“I-I’ve been a big fan since I was in middle school. I came to your graduation live for Nico, Eli, and Nozomi. I don’t think you’d remember me, but-”

Rin cut her off before she could continue

“Wow, a fan is gonna be our audio engineer nya!”

Hanayo sighed a bit and scolded Rin, albeit quite gently

“Rin, it’s impolite to cut people off like that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry nya, I didn’t realize that you could hear all of us.”

The director came out from backstage and gave a thumbs up to the idols, then looked to the booth and gave the same gesture while nodding. Yuuki mirrored her, giving a thumbs up and nodding.

Honoka quickly switched into live mode, giving instructions to the others.

“Alright, everyone get to your start positions! Kawasaki-san, could you start us off with ‘Bokura no Live Kimi to no Life’?”

Peering under the console, Yuuki quickly located the CD drive and popped it open, then looked to the desk where the headset was and was relieved to see the case of μ’s first album. She hummed the song a bit as she popped the disc into the drive and pressed the insert button. The album title and the first song’s title popped up on the console's LED screen. Yuuki quickly paused before the song could begin.

“Would you like me to play the vocal or off vocal version?”

Eli pondered this question

“I wonder if it would be better for us to save our breath for the real thing.”

Nozomi giggled and chimed in

“We’ve performed this song live dozens of times, I’m sure we’ve got the lyrics down at this point. Elicchi is right, we should save our singing voices for the main event. This is just practice after all.”

Eli nodded in agreement

“You’re right darling. It’s decided. Kawasaki-san, please play the vocal version for us.”

Nico spoke up in a rather haughty tone

“Hey, keep that mushy gushy stuff backstage you two. That goes for you as well Hanayo, don’t act like I didn’t see you earlier.”

“Awww Nico-senpai, take it easy! It’s just rehearsal nya!”

Nico crossed her arms and pouted a bit

“An idol must maintain an air of purity and professionalism at all times on stage, practice or not. If fans were to hear y-”

Maki cut her off, with a tone of slight irritation

“Whatever, we don’t need a lecture right now Nico, especially not in front of a stranger. Honoka, let’s start practice already.”

Honoka had been giggling at the exchange, but seemingly snapped back to reality at the mention of her name.

“R-Right! Kawasaki-san, if you’d please!”

Without further delay, Yuuki pressed the play button, and as the first guitar riff began the idols took up their starting positions.

This performance was different from the one Yuuki had experienced so many years ago. Even if the vocals were only from a CD, the idols’ dance moves were precisely choreographed. Everyone knew where to be and how to get there throughout the song, and they were all perfectly synchronized. To Yuuki, it was like experiencing that concert all over again, but this time she had the added benefit of all those years of listening to μ’s, making her appreciate them and their music that much more. Before she knew it, it was noon, and the idols had struck their final pose as the song ended for the tenth time again. Without even thinking about it, Yuuki began to giggle softly and applaud excitedly in the booth. This was like a dream come true.

Nozomi was the first to speak up

“Aha, it seems like we get Yuuki-chan’s seal of approval.”

Hearing Nozomi say her name with such an endearing honorific made Yuuki stop clapping and let out a soft squeak of excitement. She slapped her hand over her mouth to prevent any further noises from escaping.

“Nozomi, we hardly know her, you can’t just call her that when we’ve only just met.”

Eli seemed mildly concerned

“A-Ah! No, it’s fine… I don’t mind if you’d all like to call me by my first name, actually, if that’s more comfortable…”

Rin piped up happily

“Yay! Yuuki-chan, you’re already my favourite mixer nya!”

Nico flashed her signature gesture in approval

“You did a great job Yuuki, from here it sounded perfect nico!”

Maki smiled, a rare occasion outside of live shows

“With Yuuki helping us, I bet it’ll sound even better once we do it for real”

Hanayo spoke softly and politely

“It’s reassuring to know we have someone so competent helping us. Thank you so much Yuuki.”

Umi nodded and smiled

“I agree. Yuuki-san, I look forward to working with you.”

Kotori cheered

“I bet there are so many things we can talk about outside of rehearsal too!”

Eli’s expression had softened and she seemed relieved that no offense had been taken earlier

“Thank you for your hard work, Yuuki. It sounded lovely.”

Alisa spoke up too

“Onee-chan is right. You did a good job Yuuki!”

Yukiho nodded in agreement

“Yeah!”

Honoka’s energetic voice came through after everyone else

“You did great Yuuki! With your help I’m sure we’ll have a great live!”

Yuuki was covering her mouth and trying not to sob into the mic. She’d been reduced to tears by the outpouring of kind words, from her childhood idols no less. She couldn’t believe this was real. Through her tears she spoke up, trying her best to hide the fact she was crying, though it was still fairly obvious

“Th-Thank you, all of you. You have no idea how much hearing you say this means to me…”

Nozomi looked up at the booth, seemingly concerned

“Eeeee, I can’t see your cute face anymore Yuuki-chan, is everything alright up there?”

Eli giggled and tapped Nozomi’s arm

“Darling, don’t tease her”

Nozomi smiled back at Eli, giggling herself

“I’m just checking if she’s okay”

The door to the sound booth opened and the director stepped in with a big smile on her face, which quickly turned into an expression of concern as she saw Yuuki’s face.

“Kawasaki, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Yuuki wiped her tears with the sleeves of her hoodie.

“N-No, I’m doing fine. I’ve never been better actually…”

She sniffled and smiled. The director seemed relieved.

“Ah, thank goodness. I was worried that the pressure had already gotten to you. It’s break time now that practice is over. You have an hour and a half, so feel free to go grab lunch if you didn’t pack one.”

With that, the director waved to Yuuki and walked out of the booth, leaving the door open behind her. Nozomi’s friendly voice came through the headset again.

“Hey, Yuuki-chan. If you want, you can come have lunch break with us. We’d love to talk to you more!”

“Really? Thank you so much, I’d love to!”

“Ehehe, I’m glad. We’ve got to go change, if you’d like you can come wait outside the dressing rooms.”

“A-Alright, I’ll get my bag and meet you down there!”


	3. Face to face

###  _III - Face to face_

Yuuki was completely ecstatic. Her heart was racing. Lunch with μ’s? She could hardly believe her ears. She picked up her bag and took off down the stairs, zipped through the lobby, and into the auditorium. She descended the steps quickly, doing her best not to trip, then leapt and hoisted herself up onto the stage. She sprinted through the doors backstage and just barely came to a stop in front of the door to the dressing room hallway. She carefully pushed the door open, winded and panting, peering into the hall. It was lined with dressing rooms, each door marked with a star, with a little paper insert with each idol’s name on them. The walls were lined with polished wood panels, the floor had a soft red carpet, and the roof was painted to match, all of this a stark contrast to the plain white drywall hallway just beyond the door. Yuuki’s little marathon down to the dressing rooms really took the wind out of her, so she trudged down the hall until she reached Nozomi’s door, and then laid down on a small bench with cushions opposite the door. Without thinking, she closed her eyes and passed out.

Yuuki slowly awoke from her unintended rest, but something felt different. She wasn’t lying on a bench anymore, unless the bench was just extra soft, and she definitely didn’t remember the bench having pillows or a quilt on it. She looked down and saw that her shoes were gone, she was just in her sock feet. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Ah… I hope I didn’t sleep through lunch…”

Reality then hit her, she had fallen asleep when she was supposed to go for lunch.

“Ahhh! Where’s my shoes, where’s my bag!? I need to go find Nozomi and apologize and-”

She turned to get off the bed, only to make direct eye contact with Nozomi, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed, trying not to burst out laughing. Eli stood just behind her brushing her hair in front of a mirror, also barely holding in her giggles.

“A-Ah! Nozomi-san, Eli-san!”

Yuuki was so surprised she felt like her heart could have stopped in that moment.

Nozomi finally let her laughs out, only for it to be a sort of smug chuckle.

“Ahaha, glad to see you’re awake sleepyhead. Did you have a good nap?”

Yuuki blushed

“H-How long was I asleep?”

Eli looked down at her phone

“Only about 20 minutes, but you seemed so peaceful we didn’t want to disturb you”

Yuuki was visibly confused

“How… How did I get in here? Where are we?”

Nozomi smiled warmly

“This is Elicchi and I’s dressing room. We have to make them double as living spaces, since we’ve gotta travel around a lot. It’s much more comfortable than having to sleep on a cramped tour bus, y’know?”

Eli nodded affirmatively

“Yes, and I was worried you’d hurt your neck laying on a bench like that, so I carefully carried you in here and laid you down. I was worried I’d wake you, but you slept through the entire thing.”

Yuuki realized that the two idols were wearing casual clothes instead of their costumes, and was again reminded about Nozomi’s invitation

“A-Ah, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long! I was just so tired from how eventful today’s been so far…”

Nozomi shook her head

“No no, it’s okay, you needed to rest.

Eli chimed in

“I hope it wasn’t too startling to receive an invitation from us all of the sudden.”

Yuuki tried her best to seem cool, but in reality her heart felt like it was beating faster than light

“A-Ah, it’s okay! I was very happy! I didn’t pack lunch either, so I was p-planning to go out to eat anyway.”

Nozomi put her hand out for Yuuki

“Here, let me help you up”

Yuuki wasn’t sure what to do. On one hand, she could stand on her own. It wasn’t like she just fell or anything, she was sitting on a bed. On the other hand, being able to touch Nozomi’s hand…

Yuuki blinked and shook her head a little

“ _Stop thinking weird things Yuuki, she’s just being friendly, don’t make this any more awkward.”_

Without further hesitation, she extended her arm and took Nozomi’s hand. The following seconds seemed like an eternity. Nozomi’s hand was soft and comfortingly warm. Her grip was firm, but not overwhelming. Yuuki was pulled up onto her feet, and was now standing face to face with the idol. Her idol. Nozomi… who had a somewhat smug grin on her face. Despite Yuuki being done getting up, neither girl had released the other’s hand and stood there, each of their faces mere centimetres from the other.

Seconds later, Yuuki came to this realization, and began to blush intensely. This didn’t cause her to release Nozomi’s hand, nor Nozomi to release Yuuki’s.

Yuuki nervously stammered out her words

“Th-Thank you, Nozomi-san!”

Nozomi’s smug expression softened into another of her warm, friendly smiles, and she lifted Yuuki’s hand up a bit and shook it gently, giggling all the while  
“Ehehe, it’s my pleasure. And please, don’t worry about honorifics, you can just call me Nozomi.”

Yuuki didn’t think her cheeks could get any redder, but in that moment she felt them flush with a combination of embarrassment and joy.

“Yuuki, would you like to fix your hair before we head out? It looks like it got a little ruffled while you slept, sorry about that.”

Eli picked up a clean hair brush and motioned for Yuuki to come over. Without saying anything, Yuuki stood up and walked over to her.

“Please, have a seat, I’ll take care of you”  
Without questioning or speaking, Yuuki sat down in front of the mirror, and saw that her hair was indeed ruffled and sticking out every which way.

“ _How embarrassing, to be seen in front of my childhood idols looking like this._ ”

Eli began gently brushing her hair, doing her best to follow the way the unruffled parts were styled.  
“Is this how you brush it normally?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right”

Eli’s soft hands ran along Yuuki’s head behind the brush to smooth her hair out, sending a slight shiver down Yuuki’s spine. Minutes turned into eternities as she sat there, staring mindlessly at Eli working in the mirror. Before she knew it, Eli gave her a gentle pat on the head.  
“There we go, does that look good? Did I miss anything?”

Yuuki blinked and looked back at her hair in the mirror, then smiled and turned to Eli.

“It’s perfect, thank you Eli-san”

Eli giggled and then gently booped Yuuki on the nose with her index finger

“That’s just Eli to you, silly”

Yuuki was overjoyed with how familiar the two of them were towards her. Before, she felt anxious that she might embarrass herself, but now she was lost in a blissful feeling of warmth and comfort thanks to Nozomi and Eli’s kind hospitality.

Nozomi handed Yuuki her bag and directed her to her shoes, which were placed neatly on a mat by the door next to two other pairs of sneakers. The three of them walked together and chatted about μ’s past live shows, how Yuuki found them, and shared stories about their high school lives. They continued as they exited the building and walked along the sidewalk up the street a few minutes to an intersection, just across from a small but busy Japanese-style restaurant on the street corner.

Nozomi sighed with a hint of nostalgia in her voice

“Ahh, I never get tired of that smell.”

“Neither do I, darling.”

Yuuki felt a bit puzzled. Looking at the restaurant, it seemed strangely familiar. Before she could put her finger on it, she was distracted by the sound of someone calling out to her and the two others.

“Non-senpai! Eli-senpai! You’re finally here nya!”

Rin zipped over to them like a rocket, and then walked right up to Yuuki and extended a hand to her

“Yuuki-san, I’m glad we can finally see each other face to face! Wow, you’re even cuter up close nya!”

Yuuki shook Rin’s hand and bowed politely, blushing at the compliment  
“Th-Thank you! It’s an honour Rin-san!”

A soft but somewhat stern voice came from behind Rin

“Rin, don’t run off so suddenly like that! I thought you had already gone inside, and I almost dropped my glasses trying to catch up with you.”

Yuuki peeked behind Rin to see a slightly frustrated-looking bespectacled Hanayo, puffing her cheeks, but promptly dropping said expression as soon as she saw Yuuki.

“A-Ah! I didn’t see you there Yuuki-san, my apologies. It’s nice to meet you face-to-face. I hope we can all get along.”

A gentle, polite Japanese greeting. Very typical of Hanayo, yet the familiarity of it only made Yuuki feel more comfortable. She extended her hand to Hanayo, who carefully took it and shook it. The two of them bowed politely to each other as they shook hands, trying their best not to hit their heads together.

“So, Rin, where did everyone else go?”

Nozomi asked

“Ah, they’re waiting near the patio nya! Come on, I’ll take you guys to them!”

Without further questions, everyone followed Rin, who did her best not to run too far ahead of everyone as she led them to the others who were waiting by the restaurant’s patio just as she said. Each of the idols gave Yuuki face-to-face introductions one by one. She did her best not to break down crying from joy, she couldn’t believe anything that was happening right now. Not only was she working for her childhood idols, she also got to introduce herself to them, talk to them, and now have lunch with them. After the introductions were all finished, the group headed into the restaurant. An eager-looking employee at the front piped up.

“Ah, Honoka-san and μ’s I’m guessing? The owner told us you were coming, and I thought I saw you outside. Your table’s already been set. Please!”

The employee motioned to the left and everyone filed into the dining area one by one, each of them thanking the employee as they passed. 

Yuuki and the idols walked between the rows of tables towards a narrow staircase, which was being watched with great vigilance by another employee. The restaurant was bustling with the sound of the lunchtime rush, and almost every table was seemingly filled with hungry office workers and high school students chowing down. Yuuki tried her best to avoid bumping the many chairs that were jutting into the aisle leading to the stairs. She felt almost a slight sense of relief as she reached the cramped staircase and climbed to the room above.


	4. Fried Egg Flirt

###  _IV - Fried Egg Flirt_

As Yuuki entered the room, she felt a distinct change of atmosphere. The room was a lot quieter, it seemed the floor had been soundproofed. On top of that, it seemed like less of a restaurant space and more like someone’s living space built atop the restaurant. Nozomi tugged on her sleeve and ushered her over to a group of three large Japanese dining tables on the floor, surrounded by cushions where everyone else was taking a seat. Yuuki set her bag down against the wall and took a seat between Nozomi and Eli at their insistence. Strangely, Honoka wasn’t sitting at the head of the long arrangement of tables like she had expected. A bright and cheerful voice came from the next room over, and then a tall, flashy-looking lady with bleach blonde hair, wearing an apron and an orange headband stepped out of the doorway on the far side of the room. It now clicked with Yuuki why she felt this place was so familiar. This wasn’t just any old restaurant.

“Hey everyone! I hope you’re hungry, I made lots of hotpot for all of you!”

The cheerful lady quickly noticed Yuuki, and gave her a welcoming smile.

“Ah! Nice to meet you! _Ai_ didn’t know that μ’s were bringing along a new friend! There should still be plenty of food for you!”

The pun caused Nico and Maki to audibly sigh, while the others giggled or grinned. It was clear as day now, this lady was none other than Ai Miyashita of the famous Nijigasaki School Idol Club, and its follow-up group, the Nijigasaki Nine. Her joyful mannerisms and smile were rumoured to be able to light up any room. Moments later, out of the next room stepped another woman, tall and elegant with dark hair, wearing a dark blue dress and a glistening silver necklace under an apron that matched Ai’s. She was carrying a large, lidded pot.

“It’s been a while, it’s good to see everyone… ara, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

Within moments of seeing her face, Yuuki recognized her. Karin Asaka, of the same group as Ai. She wondered why she was here too. Was this some kind of reunion? Karin placed the pot down in the centre of the table, then came over to Yuuki and politely shook her hand while Ai passed out shallow bowls and chopsticks to everyone at the table. After everyone received their bowl and chopsticks, Ai and Karin took a seat next to each other at the head of the table.

Ai spoke up so everyone could hear

“Okay everyone, let’s dig in!”

Honoka chimed in after

“Alright, everyone. _Seeno!”_

“ _Itadakimasu!”_

Rin pulled the lid off of the hot pot, and the steam came pouring out, filling the air with its wonderful smell. Rather than jumping in all at once, each idol took their turn taking what they wanted from the hotpot, starting with those furthest from it. They did it in such an organized fashion and with such respectful restraint, Yuuki had never seen anything like it. Eventually it came to her turn. She grabbed some beef, shrimp, some fried tofu and… huh? There was no more fried egg left. She wondered where it had all gone.

“Hmmm, are you looking for some of this?”

Yuuki sat back down on her cushion and looked to Nozomi next to her, who had a very devious look on her face. Clasped between her chopsticks was a small, carefully cut piece of fried egg. Was… was Nozomi holding it out for her?

“Now, say aah!”

Yuuki’s cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. Her idol, Nozomi, was offering to feed her.. it was too surreal, she had to be dreaming...

Eli giggled.

“Come on darling, don’t tease her too much.”

After a bit of hesitation, Yuuki closed her eyes and opened wide.

“A-Aah!”

Not long after, she felt the soft piece of fried egg gently touch down on her tongue. She closed her lips around it, accidentally catching Nozomi’s chopsticks between them and pressing them against her tongue a bit before they pulled back from her mouth. Yuuki began to chew the egg, and opened her eyes, only to see Nozomi staring at her, her tongue ever so slightly sticking out, with the chopsticks that had just been in Yuuki’s mouth touched to the tip of it.

“M-Mph!”

Yuuki blinked, and swallowed her egg before she could savour it. She quickly picked up a glass of water from the table and sipped it, just in case she choked. But she wasn’t really paying attention to whose glass it was.

“Ufufu”

Nozomi leaned in closer to Yuuki, whispering in her ear.

“If you wanted to swap spit, you didn’t need to wait for an excuse to steal my water glass. My lips are right here.”

Yuuki could feel her hot breath on her ear. Her cheeks turned even brighter red, and she did her best to resist curling up into a ball in embarrassment.

“ _You gotta be honest with yourself Yuuki. When does an opportunity like this ever have the possibility of coming up again? Either you take this, or you leave it. Your call.”_

She inhaled, then exhaled deeply, then turned to face Nozomi. Staring straight into the purple-haired idol’s eyes, her cheeks still bright red, she opened her mouth ever so slightly to speak.

“Nozomi, I-I lo-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Nozomi leaned in closer to her, her lips mere millimeters from Yuuki’s. She whispered softly in reply.

“I know… I do too…”

For the few moments that their lips touched, Yuuki felt like time itself had stopped. The world around her faded into a blur, her heart skipped a beat, and she felt like her whole body could melt into that kiss, however brief it was.

Two seconds later, both of them were snapped back to reality.

Nico’s voice rang out

“Oi! Nozomi, at least save flirting with the stage crew for until after the live is over! Some of us are trying to eat here!”

Maki swatted Nico on the back of her head  
“Ow!”

“Mind your business Nico. I don’t exactly get what’s going on, but it’s rude to interrupt two people having a moment like that. Would you like it if someone did that to us while we’re-”

“Ahh, alright alright I get it, don’t get into details.”

Though she looked pouty, Nico’s cheeks were quite obviously flushed. Nozomi giggled to herself and carried on eating, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Aside from Nico, it seemed like nobody else had noticed. All of the others were still chatting, giggling, and eating. Yuuki stared at the window across from her, her arms resting at her sides, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Had she done something wrong? Eli kept calling Nozomi “darling” earlier, would this… upset her? Before she could ponder that question further, she felt something warm wrap around her right hand. She turned her head to face Eli, who was smiling warmly at her and… holding her hand? She leaned in close and whispered to Yuuki.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

Eli gently kissed her on the cheek. Yuuki couldn’t really wrap her head around what was happening, but hearing Eli say that and having her hand held… it helped her calm down a bit, even if she was still blushing quite a lot. Eli released her hand and patted Yuuki on the back before going back to eating. Not long after, Yuuki went back to eating as well. Despite still being slightly embarrassed by these displays of affection, she did her best to enjoy the wonderful meal that Ai and Karin made for them. All the while however, the thoughts in her head continued to race at the speed of light. What had she done to gain the infatuation of not one, but _two_ extremely famous idols? Yuuki certainly didn’t consider herself much of a romantic, and she hadn’t been the one who initiated any kind of flirting. As confused and overwhelmed as she felt, she also felt exceptionally happy. Not only was she able to meet her childhood idols, but also able to experience such special, personal interactions with them. But… did she really deserve all this affection? What had she done to earn this?

“Yuuki-san, are you alright? You haven’t touched your food for a couple minutes.”

Umi’s voice broke her train of thought and Yuuki snapped back to reality

“A-Ah! I’m fine! Sorry, I was just… thinking…”

Umi smiled at Yuuki and spoke to her reassuringly

“I can imagine everything that’s happened today might be kind of overwhelming. After all, this is our first day working together.”

Yuuki averted her eyes a bit and nodded

“It’s okay Yuuki-san. We may be idols, but we’re still people too. Don’t worry about putting up a facade to seem cool around us.”

Kotori spoke up as well

“Uun, there’s no need to hide the real you from us. We invited you along with us because we want to get to know you better. We don’t get to work with many people around the same age as us.”

Maki sighed

“Even on the rare occasion we do, they aren’t really interested in idols or even music, at least not beyond the business aspects…”

Nico added on between bites of her food

“Mmn… Except on the rare occasion that we collab with other idols, but that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like.”

Hanayo followed

“We’re usually already acquainted with them anyways, and we hang out with them in our spare time when we can, like coming here to eat with Ai-senpai and Karin-senpai.”

Ai smiled

“Yeah, I just wish we could do this with everyone here more often, but with everyones’ schedules it’s really tough to find a time like this. Today was lucky though!”

Karin nodded

“I was supposed to have a modelling shoot in Yokohama tomorrow, but it got postponed to next week. Otherwise I would have already been at the hotel.”

Yuuki nodded as well. She felt that she understood a little better now. μ’s didn’t often get to work with other people their ages who shared the same passion for idols, and when they did it was outside of practices and live shows. After all, being a full-blown idol group instead of just school idols meant their supporters and fans wouldn’t all be concentrated in one, central area that they could easily go to, but rather spread all across the country, even the world.

“I… feel a little less nervous. Thank you, all of you.”

She turned to Nozomi

“Thank you again for inviting me to come along, it’s an honour.”

Yuuki bowed her head to Nozomi, but before she could tilt it all the way down, Nozomi’s fingers touched her chin and gently pushed her face back up until they locked eyes. Yuuki began to blush again.

“Don’t thank me, thank fate for bringing us all together.”

Nozomi pulled a deck of tarot cards from her pocket and showed it to Yuuki. There was a card face-up on the top of the deck. At the bottom it read “ _VI, The Lovers”._

“I read Eli and I’s fortune this morning, as I do every morning, and this was the card that came up for both of us.”

Yuuki was pleasantly surprised that Nozomi was still interested in witchcraft and fortune-telling even as an adult. She remembered reading that was one of her hobbies on a fan website back in middle school. Some things never change. She smiled.

“Oh I see, what does this card mean?”

Nozomi chuckled

“It has a few meanings, but from how today’s gone so far, I’d say the card’s name itself probably sums up what it meant today.”

Yuuki looked back from the card to Nozomi’s eyes. Her green eyes were filled with mystery, but also… passion and love. Staring into her eyes, Yuuki truly understood Nozomi’s true feelings. Whatever her reasons, Yuuki was overjoyed. She leaned in, closing her eyes nervously and gently kissed Nozomi on the lips.

“Chu~”

Nozomi made a kiss sound effect as she reciprocated. Eli started giggling uncontrollably, and Yuuki started giggling in turn.

“Ahahaha, what was that darling?”

Nozomi shrugged, chuckling a bit  
“Just thought I’d break the tension a bit, didn’t want to make everyone else feel any more awkward.”

“Well, you certainly gave us all an _Ai_ full that’s for sure.”

Ai’s follow-up pun cued the usual sighs from Maki and Nico, and chuckles from everyone else. Now that the tension had been broken, and Yuuki was feeling more comfortable, everyone went back to eating. Yuuki made casual conversation with the other girls, exchanging jokes and stories from high school. Even once they’d finished both the hot pot, and a scrumptious chocolate pie that Karin baked for dessert, everyone carried on talking. Yuuki told them about the idol club she helped create, and how that led her towards the career she was pursuing. She spoke to Maki about composing, and asked her about how she came up with new ideas for songs. She asked Rin whether she still went to the same Ramen shop after all these years. Umi told a story about how one Saturday in her third year, she had to instruct a dance lesson in the morning, attend an archery tournament in the afternoon, and then perform a live show that night. Kotori added on how she and Honoka ended up having to carry a sleeping Umi to Kotori’s mother’s car afterwards, much to Umi’s embarrassment. Before they knew it, Eli was pointing out that it was 15 minutes to the end of lunch break.

“We better get back before the break is over, we can’t lose out on practice time, especially not before a show.”

Everyone agreed, and began to say their goodbyes to Ai and Karin, taking turns to give each of them goodbye hugs. Yuuki was headed for the door, when a hand caught her by the shoulder.

“Hey hey, where do you think you’re going without giving your hosts a proper goodbye”

Nozomi’s voice sounded devious, almost sinister.

“W-Well it was our first time meeting so I figured it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to-”

Nozomi chuckled

“You better go give them hugs, or you’re in for an extra rough _washiwashi_ session later.”

Yuuki gulped. She didn’t know what a washiwashi was, nor was she sure she was keen to find out. She turned away from the door and walked back over to Ai and Karin. She felt a bit nervous, since she didn’t know a whole lot about the Nijigasaki Nine other than that they had collaborated with μ’s and Aqours a few times, and all 28 of them were apparently good friends. Still, Ai and Karin had been kind enough to allow her into their home and feed her, so she supposed it was only fair. She was also still not keen on finding out what a washiwashi was.

“Awh, it’s okay, you don’t have to give us hugs if you’re too nervous, you can just shake our hands so it’s more professional.”

Ai smiled warmly and extended her hand to Yuuki.

“A-Ah, thank you..!”

As she took her hand, Nozomi teased from the other end of the room.

“Yuuki, remember what I told you…~”

Before she could respond, Ai pulled Yuuki in close and squeezed her tight. Yuuki was a fair bit shorter than Ai, so her face was about at neck level. Yuuki found her cheeks directly sandwiched in Ai’s cleavage. She didn’t know if her face could get any redder than it already was, but it certainly felt like it.  
“Ehe, just kidding. Thanks for coming, I hope we get to see you again Yucchan! Come by anytime, I’ll be sure to give you a friend discount.”

“Th-Thanks, I might take you up on that sometime…!”

After Ai released her from the tight hug, Yuuki turned to Karin, who made direct eye contact with her, before gently wrapping her arms around her. Karin was even taller than Ai, so Yuuki’s forehead was the only part of her face that wasn’t smothered by Karin’s cleavage. Still, Karin was much more gentle than Ai, and she gently stroked the top of Yuuki’s head while hugging her. It was… comforting, even if it was still a bit embarrassing.

“Thank you for having lunch with us today, Yuuki-chan. I hope we’ll run into each other again soon.”

Though she was a bit muffled, Yuuki replied.

“Thank you Karin-san, it w-was really nice meeting you…!”

After letting her go, Karin winked at her mischievously.

“Aha, you can just call me Karin, cutie.”

Yuuki wasn’t sure how to respond, so she simply thanked Karin and headed back over to Nozomi, who was waiting by the door with a smug expression on her face.

“Ehehe, good job. That wasn’t so hard, was it? The two of them give really nice hugs, too.”

Yuuki was still blushing hard, but Nozomi’s added teasing made her cover her cheeks.

“Eeee, there there, it’s okay. I’m just teasing you.”  
Nozomi wrapped her arms around Yuuki and gave her a brief, soft hug before proceeding down the stairs.

“Come on, let’s catch up with the others and head back, Yuuki-chan.”

Yuuki inhaled and then exhaled deeply, doing her best to calm down. She began following Nozomi down the stairs, giving one last friendly wave goodbye to Ai and Karin. Regardless of what she did to deserve all of this affection and kindness, she hoped at least it wouldn’t interfere with her and μ’s putting on a good show.


	5. Chapter 5

###  _V - Music Start!_

It hadn’t even been two hours since she’d eaten, and Yuuki’s stomach already felt empty. After returning to the auditorium, she had to part ways with the idols to do pre-show prep in the audio booth while they did their own backstage. The live show was starting at 3PM, in about five minutes. When she returned to the audio booth, she met with the director and a couple members of the stage crew, and was given a CD along with a list of songs to play. The stage crew were mainly there to operate the light booth which was right next door, but they also told Yuuki if there were any issues to knock on the door and let them know. She appreciated their kindness, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to pry herself out of her seat until the show was over. The moment she sat down in front of the console, she felt as if the lower half of her body couldn’t respond if it tried. All she could do was operate the dials, switches, and sliders. She could hardly look away from the stage’s closed curtains, even as dozens of people began filling in the seats facing it. She didn’t want to disappoint μ’s, especially not Nozomi and Eli. They’d been so kind to her that day, and they’d also played a huge part in who she was, the last thing she wanted to do was screw up a live show for them. She worried she might misalign one of the sliders, or put the mic volume too high, or-

“Test! Test! 1, 2, 3! Can you hear me?”

Her catastrophizing was interrupted by the voice of one of the stage crew in her headphones. She quickly flipped the mic down to respond.

“Y-Yes! I’m here, sorry, I was a bit spaced out. Are you all ready backstage?”

“We’re all set on this end. Let’s do our best!”

“Of course! Thank you!”

There were a couple moments of what sounded like the mic being moved around, and then a soft click as the crew member switched it off. Shortly after, several other soft clicks happened as different mics were activated.

“Hello, Yuuki-san? Can you hear me alright?”

It was Umi.

“Yes, I can hear you perfectly Umi-san! Did you need something?”

Umi sounded relieved

“Good, it seems to be working. We’re going to run a short test with us going through a full scale with our voices, to see if it sounds off or too loud, is that okay?”

Yuuki adjusted herself in her seat a bit and scooted closer to the console.

“Alright, the auditorium speakers are off and we have a couple of minutes, so.”

“Thank you. Alright everyone, are you ready?”

The response came in an almost harmonic unison.

“ _Yes!_ ”

The idols began to go through the musical scale saying “a”, starting from the lowest note and ending with the highest, then returning to the lowest. Yuuki made sure they sounded well-balanced, making sure nobody’s voice overwhelmed anyone else’s or pushed volume too high overall. They did the same for the other vowels “i”, “u”, “e”, “o”. Aside from some very minor peaking when Rin decided to do her high notes on “e” as loud as she could, echoing into the auditorium and cuing a wave of laughter from the audience and the other idols alike, everything seemed fine. Yuuki felt a little more relaxed now.

“Alright, things seem in order. It’s almost time, so I’ll switch the auditorium mics on now if that’s okay. Let’s do our best!”

She switched the auditorium speakers on, flipped her mic up, and readied her finger on the CD player’s play button. As she did, she couldn’t help but say μ’s famous starting phrase in unison with them.

“Music… start!”

_“♫ Wonder Zone, kimi ni, yobareta you hashitte kitta yo. Ki~itto fushigi na~a yume ga hajimaru! ♪”_

Yuuki sat in her chair and simply watched the show from the booth. She didn’t really need to make any adjustments to the sound at all, everything seemed to be perfect. About halfway through the second song, she heard the door open behind her. She turned around, and was surprised to see who was there.

“Karin-san, Ai-san!?”

Karin giggled

“Ara, you seem a bit surprised. Don’t worry, we know the director, she said we’re allowed back here.”

“Why are you here though?”

Ai piped up

“Well, we’re here to support our friends of course, and that includes you!”

Yuuki felt her heart skip a beat. Even though she never really followed the Nijigasaki idols very closely, she was extremely honoured that even one, let alone two of them considered her a friend. 

Karin continued

“We sat and talked with the director during the first song, and she gave us permission to come get you. The CD’s playlist is already in order and it’ll stop when it’s done, and she said you’ve done an outstanding job with the mixing. She said μ’s also told her that you’re a fan, so she wants you to be able to enjoy the live show from a more appropriate seat.”

Yuuki didn’t think this day could get any more amazing.

Ai grinned

“So, will you tag along, Yuuki-chan? Or are you gonna get _cold feet?_ ”

Karin sighed at Ai’s pun

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how her name is written with, Ai…”

Yuuki didn’t mind though. She jumped up from her seat and ran over to join them. The three of them exited the booth, closing the door softly behind them, and headed towards a set of stairs that Yuuki didn’t recognize.

“Wait, where does this go?”

Karin replied

“Ah, these are the stairs that go to the auditorium’s upper-level seating. Usually we’d take the elevator, but calling the elevator to this floor requires a key, and we forgot to ask the director for it.”

Ai added on

“This door opens from the inside, but it’s locked from the outside. Don’t want anyone making off with their equipment I guess.”

Yuuki felt unsure now. What if something went wrong and she needed to go back to the booth?

Karin put her hand on her shoulder

“It’s okay, the director will be in the gallery seats next to ours. If you need a key to get back we can just ask her.”

Yuuki nodded

“Alright, let’s go.”

Without further hesitation, they went through the door, down the stairs to the level below, and out into an elegantly decorated hallway with hardwood paneling and a dark red carpet to match the rest of the auditorium. She could hear the music very clearly from down the hall, and it only got clearer as they walked to their gallery seat. Soon, Yuuki, Karin, and Ai were sitting at the front of a mostly empty gallery, with the exception of a serious-looking man wearing a suit, sunglasses, and an earpiece, seated at the very back left of the gallery.

Yuuki felt a little intimidated

“Who is he?”

Ai shrugged

“I think he’s a security guard. We said we didn’t need one, but the director insisted. He’s actually friendly enough once you talk to him.”

Ai turned around and gave him a smile and wave. To Yuuki’s surprise, he smiled back and returned a small wave.

“See, he’s not so bad.”

With that cleared up, Yuuki focused her attention back to the live show on the stage. They had a wonderful, full view of the stage from above. She quickly became absorbed in watching the idols dance and sing on stage. She quickly found her attention drawn almost exclusively to Nozomi. Her long, purple twin tails waved in an almost mesmerizing way as she danced. Yuuki caught a glimpse of Nozomi’s upper thighs as she shook her hips with the music, her short skirt waving about. Yuuki also couldn’t help but watch how Nozomi’s breasts jiggled slightly as she danced… and then she quickly shook her head and blinked. What was she doing, checking Nozomi out in the middle of a show? What had gotten into her?

Karin chuckled

“Ara, are we getting a bit flustered?”

Yuuki looked at her in surprise. How could Karin read her so easily?

Ai teased her a bit

“Are we _hoping_ to see more of what the washiwashi queen has to offer?”

Yuuki giggled a bit, but her face reddened regardless. The fact the two of them knew that she was looking at Nozomi specifically…

“I-I was just admiring how beautiful she looks on stage…”

Though Yuuki didn’t want to admit it out loud, Ai was right. Nozomi’s teasing earlier in the day _had_ gotten her a bit worked up and hoping for more. Her eyes returned to the stage, and she continued watching the idols, but her mind continued to wander, wondering and fantasizing about what was to come. For the most part Yuuki remained fixated on the stage but slightly zoned out. Until a specific song began, and Yuuki _really_ started to lose herself in the familiar, gentle melody. Honoka spoke up before the chorus began.

“Everyone, thank you for coming! This will be μ’s final song for the night!”

_“♫ Itsumodoori matteru yo, ano bashou de matteru yo. Yakusoku wa nai keredo, ki~itto tsutawa~ru. ♪”_

Yuuki’s thoughts drifted back to the time before she founded her high school’s idol club, to the times when she felt alone and like she didn’t belong. She remembered this song in particular, _Korekara,_ bringing her great comfort in those times with its more relaxed, melodic feel compared to μ’s more upbeat songs.

“Hey, Yuuki, are you okay?”

Yuuki blinked as she returned to reality, where she was staring blankly across the auditorium as the final piano notes played. Her face felt warm, and a bit wet. Ai and Karin were leaned in on either side of her, looking at her with concerned expressions.

“Y-Yeah…”

Yuuki struggled to respond. She felt a chill as a droplet rolled down her cheek and fell onto her arm. Was she… crying? How long had she been…?

“There, there, it’s okay to get a little emotional. Live shows can bring out all kinds of emotions after all.”

Before she could further contemplate it, Yuuki found herself sandwiched in a group hug between Karin and Ai, with Karin gently stroking her head.

“That was your favourite song, wasn’t it?”

Yuuki nodded, sniffling and squeezing her eyes shut to try and stop more tears from coming out, what seemed like a futile endeavour. Ai pulled a tissue out of her purse and gently dabbed Yuuki’s cheeks. When Yuuki opened her eyes again, she realized that Ai looked like she was about to cry too.

“A-Ah, I’m sorry, Ai-san!”

Ai shook her head and smiled, despite still looking like she was on the verge of tears.

“Nooo, no. Don’t worry about it, I can relate to how you probably just felt during the song, that’s all. It’s just so wonderful to know that we all share the same passion!”

The two of them released Yuuki from the hug, and Karin got up and stood next to Ai

“Ai may be a ray of sunshine with a smile that never seems to leave her face, but she’s also a very empathetic person, aren’t you?”

Karin patted Ai on the head, ruffling her hair a little bit, to which Ai responded with a giggle and smile

“Ahaha! Hey, I could say the same about you! You’re always so untouchable and cool around strangers, but you’re a softie deep down too!”

Karin blushed a bit and smiled

“Well, you of all people would know, wouldn’t you dear?”

Karin turned back to Yuuki, who had managed to pull herself out of her seat and regain a bit of her composure. Yuuki sighed.

“S-Sorry again, I don’t mean to trouble both of you, especially since we just met and all…”

Ai shook her head and bumped Yuuki with her elbow a bit

“Hey hey! Don’t sweat it, we all get _mixed_ up in our own emotions sometimes.”

Yuuki couldn’t help but chuckle at Ai’s pun, and neither could Karin

“Come on, let’s head back down and meet up with the others. Hanayo said that there’s a new restaurant that opened nearby that she’ll be ordering delivery from for dinner. She said she wants to uh… how did she put it?”

Karin looked puzzled for a moment, but Ai piped up

“I think she said she wanted to ‘see if their rice is good or if it _goes against the grain_ ’.”

Karin shook her head

“I don’t think that’s at all what she said but it’s close enough. She invited us via text as we were on the way here, and she said we should invite you too. Would you like to come?”

Yuuki was surprised. Not one, but _two_ meals in the presence of her idols in a single day? Maybe Nozomi was right, maybe it was fate that brought her here on this day in particular.

“A-As long as they don’t mind, of course!”

Karin and Ai both smiled, and Ai tugged at Yuuki’s sleeve a bit.

“Alright alright! Since that’s settled then, let’s get going, my tummy is rumbling already!”

The three of them left the gallery, the suited man at the back following closely behind until they reached the staircase. Ai turned to him with her usual grin.

“Thank you for your services today, Takanashi-san. Give the director our regards!”

The man gave a small, silent nod, a little smile on his face as he headed off down the stairs ahead of them. It was then that Yuuki remembered something important.

“Ah, would you two mind coming with me to the audio booth? I have to go get my things!”

Karin and Ai both nodded, and the three of them headed up to the top level. Fortunately, the one-way door between the top level and the stairs was propped open with a doorstop. A couple of employees were busy cleaning the hallway but they didn’t seem too concerned with the three girls’ presence. Yuuki headed into the booth and grabbed her backpack and coat while Karin and Ai waited patiently by the door. Once she had all her things, Yuuki left the booth, and stuck the key into the lock for it to be collected by the director, just as she had been instructed, and the three headed downstairs to meet up with μ’s.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be an explicit chapter that I'll post separately for those who are comfortable with that, otherwise the main piece will be made to be stand-alone. This whole work is WIP, so some minor edits might occur, but I'm generally trying to do edits to chapters before I post them. If you notice any inconsistencies, mistakes or have any advice, please let me know!  
> I'm also working (very slowly) on a Japanese version, to challenge myself and practice the language.


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